AMA’s 100th Anniversary

Imagine that you could attend only one of three events this summer: The Republican Party National Convention (July 15), the Democrat Convention (August 19) or the Summer Olympics (July 26) in France. Which would you select?

Those that replied, “AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days!” are our kind of people, because this year’s gathering at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in the Buckeye State celebrates the AMA’s 100th Anniversary. That’s quite a landmark for an organization that took about a quarter of a century to form itself. We motorcycle people might be slow on the take, but we’re persistent.

The American Motorcyclist Association’s life journey began shortly before the start of the 20th Century when motorized bicycles grew popular. By 1901, Indian, Royal Enfield and Triumph had launched variations of their first motorcycles, and by the time William Harley and Arthur Davidson built the first Harley-Davidson in 1903, a group of motorcycle enthusiasts in New York had formed the Federation of American Motorcyclists (FAM), its purpose being to represent motorcyclists and the fledging motorcycle industry in America. FAM essentially was the forerunner to the AMA. Within a few years (in 1908), the growing number of motorcycle manufacturers, distributors and accessory makers made way to a FAM sub-group — the Motorcycle Manufacturers Association (MMA) — to address those concerns.

A series of unrelated events, including The Great War (later tagged World War I), caused FAM membership to wane, prompting a closed door meeting among industry insiders to slightly alter course. Result: the formation of the Motorcycle and Allied Trades Association (M&ATA).

Meanwhile, Henry Ford’s assembly line tactics put thousands of affordable Model T Fords within financial grasp of a growing American middle class. Motorcycles no longer served as their primary source of daily transportation. Instead, motorcycles became recreational vehicles, used primarily for competition and other organized group events, such as the Gypsy Tours, dating back to the teen years.

By the early 1920s, M&ATA realized there needed to be meaningful direction for motorcycling to grow as a recreational past time. Their solution was to create a sense of unity among motorcycle enthusiasts in terms of organized riding events and professional championship and regional sportsman racing. That, in turn, called for a touchstone to address the needs of professional and sportsmen motorcyclists alike, so on May 15, 1924, M&ATA directors met in Cleveland, Ohio, to formulate a plan. Their solution was to establish what became the American Motorcycle Association (AMA). Individual motorcycle clubs were given their own membership status as well, with the New Jersey Motorcycle Club claiming AMA Charter No. 1. Within a few years, the AMA began publishing its own club magazine, The Motorcyclist, later to become American Motorcycling (today known as American Motorcyclist), and at some point the organization’s name shifted from American Motorcycle Association to American Motorcyclist Association.